Postdramatic Theatre

Hans-Thies Lehmann"s groundbreaking study of the new theatre forms that have developed since the late 1960s has become a key reference point in inter- national discussions of contemporary theatre. Postdramatic Theatrerefers to theatre after drama. Despite their diversity, the new forms and aesthetics that have evolved have one essential quality in common: they no longer focus on th e dra- matic text. Lehmann offers a historical survey combined with a unique theoretical approach, illustrated by a wealth of practical examples, to guide the re ader through this new theatre landscape. He considers these developments in r ela- tion to dramatic theory and theatre history, and as an inventive response to the emergence of new technologies and a historical shift from a text-based c ulture to a new media age of image and sound. Engaging with theoreticians of drama and theatre from Aristotle, Hegel, Szondi and Brecht to Barthes, Lyotard and Schechner, the book analyses the work of recent experimental theatre practi- tioners such as Robert Wilson, Tadeusz Kantor, Heiner Müller, The Wooster

Group, Needcompany and Societas Raffaello Sanzio.

This excellent translation is newly adapted for the Anglophone reader, including an introduction by Karen Jürs-Munby which provides useful theoret- ical and artistic contexts for the book. Hans-Thies Lehmannis Professor of Theatre Studies at the Johann Wolfgang includeTheater und Mythos(1991) on the constitution of the subject in ancient Greek tragedy, Writing the Political(2002) and, with Patrick Primavesi, Heiner Müller

Handbuch(2004).

Karen Jürs-Munbyis Senior Lecturer in Drama, Theatre and Performance at the University of Huddersfield.

Postdramatic Theatre

Hans-Thies Lehmann

Translated and with an Introduction by

Karen Jürs-Munby

For Eleni Varopoulou

First published 2006 by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge

270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group German edition © Verlag der Autoren, D-Frankfurt am Main 1999;

English edition © Routledge 2006

The publication of this work was supported by a grant from the Goethe-Institut. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Lehmann, Hans-Thies.

[Postdramatisches Theater. English] Postdramatic theatre / Hans-Thies Lehmann; translated and with an introduction by Karen Jürs-Munby. p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Theater-Germany-History-20th century. 2. Experimental

theater-Germany-History-20th century. 3. German drama-

20th century-History and criticism. I. Title.

PN2654.L35 2006

792.02"23"09430904-dc22

ISBN10: 0-415-26812-5 (hbk)

ISBN10: 0-415-26813-3 (pbk)

ISBN13: 9-78-0-415-26812-7 (hbk)

ISBN13: 9-78-0-415-26813-4 (pbk)

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006. "To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge's collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.u k."

Preface to the English edition ix

Introduction 1

What"s in the 'post"? 1

(Post)dramatic theory 'post" Szondi and Hegel 2

The turn to performance 4

Post-1960s institutional context, memory, history and palimpsest 7 Theatre and world in the age of media: are we post-postdrama? 9

Postmodern and postdramatic theory 13

Note on the translation and acknowledgement 15

Prologue 16

The stakes 16

Intentions 18

Trade secrets of dramatic theatre 21

Caesura of the media society 22

Names 23

Paradigm 24

Postmodern and postdramatic 25

Choice of term 26

Tradition and the postdramatic talent 27

Drama 29

Drama and theatre 29

'Epicization" - Peter Szondi, Roland Barthes 29

The estrangement of theatre and drama 30

'Dramatic discourse" 31

Theatre after Brecht 32

Suspended suspense 33

'What a drama!" 35 'Formalist theatre" and imitation 36

Mimesis of action 36

'Energetic theatre" 37

Drama and dialectic 39

Drama, history, meaning 39

Aristotle: the ideal of surveyability (synopton) 40

Hegel 1: the exclusion of the real 42

Hegel 2: the performance 44

Prehistories 46

Towards a prehistory of postdramatic theatre 46

Theatre and text 46

The twentieth century 48

First stage: 'pure" and 'impure" drama 48

Second stage: crisis of drama, theatre goes its own way(s) 49

Autonomization, retheatricalization 50

Third stage: 'neo-avant-garde" 52

A short look back at the historical avant-gardes 57

Lyrical drama, Symbolism 57

Stasis, ghosts 58

Stage poetry 59

Acts, actions 61

Speed, numbers 61

Landscape Play 62

'Pure form" 64

Expressionism 65

Surrealism 66

Panorama of postdramatic theatre 68

Beyond dramatic action: ceremony, voices in space, landscape 68

Kantor or the ceremony 71

Grüber or the reverberation of the voice in space 74

Wilson or the landscape 77

Postdramatic theatrical signs 82

Retreat of synthesis 82

Dream images 83viContents

Synaesthesia 84

Performance text 85

1 Parataxis/non-hierarchy 86

2 Simultaneity 87

3 Play with the density of signs 89

4 Plethora 90

5 Musicalization 91

6 Scenography, visual dramaturgy 93

7 Warmth and coldness 95

8 Physicality 95

9 'Concrete theatre" 98

10 Irruption of the real 99

11 Event/situation 104

Examples 107

1 An evening with Jan and his friends107

2 Narrations 109

3 Scenic poem 110

4 Between the arts 111

5 Scenic essay 112

6 'Cinematographic theatre" 114

7 Hypernaturalism 115

8 Cool Fun 118

9 Theatre of 'shared" space 122

10 Theatre solos, monologies 125

11 Choral theatre/theatre of the chorus 129

12 Theatre of heterogeneity 132

Performance 134

Theatre and performance 134

A field in between 134

The positing (Setzung) of performance 135

Self-transformation 137

Aggression, responsibility 139

The present of performance 141

Aspects: text - space - time - body - media 145

Text 145

Chora-graphy, the body-text 145

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[PDF] Postdramatic Theatre - Monoskop

Postdramatic Theatre

Group, Needcompany and Societas Raffaello Sanzio.

Handbuch(2004).

Postdramatic Theatre

Hans-Thies Lehmann

Translated and with an Introduction by

Karen Jürs-Munby

For Eleni Varopoulou

First published 2006 by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016

English edition © Routledge 2006

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Lehmann, Hans-Thies.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Theater-Germany-History-20th century. 2. Experimental

20th century-History and criticism. I. Title.

PN2654.L35 2006

792.02"23"09430904-dc22

ISBN10: 0-415-26812-5 (hbk)

ISBN10: 0-415-26813-3 (pbk)

ISBN13: 9-78-0-415-26812-7 (hbk)

ISBN13: 9-78-0-415-26813-4 (pbk)

Contents

Preface to the English edition ix

Introduction 1

What"s in the 'post"? 1

The turn to performance 4

Postmodern and postdramatic theory 13

Note on the translation and acknowledgement 15

Prologue 16

The stakes 16

Intentions 18

Trade secrets of dramatic theatre 21

Caesura of the media society 22

Names 23

Paradigm 24

Postmodern and postdramatic 25

Choice of term 26

Tradition and the postdramatic talent 27

Drama 29

Drama and theatre 29

The estrangement of theatre and drama 30

Theatre after Brecht 32

Suspended suspense 33

Mimesis of action 36

Drama and dialectic 39

Drama, history, meaning 39

Hegel 1: the exclusion of the real 42

Hegel 2: the performance 44

Prehistories 46

Towards a prehistory of postdramatic theatre 46

Theatre and text 46

The twentieth century 48

First stage: 'pure" and 'impure" drama 48

Autonomization, retheatricalization 50

Third stage: 'neo-avant-garde" 52

Lyrical drama, Symbolism 57

Stasis, ghosts 58

Stage poetry 59

Acts, actions 61

Speed, numbers 61

Landscape Play 62

Expressionism 65

Surrealism 66

Panorama of postdramatic theatre 68

Kantor or the ceremony 71

Wilson or the landscape 77

Postdramatic theatrical signs 82

Retreat of synthesis 82

Dream images 83viContents

Synaesthesia 84

Performance text 85

1 Parataxis/non-hierarchy 86

2 Simultaneity 87

3 Play with the density of signs 89

4 Plethora 90

5 Musicalization 91

6 Scenography, visual dramaturgy 93